


love you like i love you.

by WritingWrittenWords



Category: Will & Grace
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 15:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17707172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWrittenWords/pseuds/WritingWrittenWords
Summary: Grace doesn't understand why Karen keeps lying to her about her nephew, Sumners, and begins to suspect that the other woman believes her to not be good enough for him. Karen has a different answer. Based on S3E18 "Mad Dogs and Average Men".





	1. Chapter 1

“I just don’t get it!” Grace exclaims, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. “He’s the perfect man, why does Karen keep lying to me about him?” She twists the cap off with frustration, taking a swig from the bottle. “What does that woman have against me? Why does she always want to ruin my relationships?”

Will steps up to the kitchen and rubs her freckled arm gently. “Grace, calm down. As much as I agree that Karen is a conniving Disney villain, I don’t think she purposely ruins your relationships.”

“Oh yeah?” Grace begins, walking into the living room. “Every time I have a new boyfriend, she incessantly insults them and tries to convince me to break up with them. It’s like she doesn’t want me to be happy.” The redhead plops onto the couch, pouting.

Will joins her, wrapping his arm around the woman’s shoulder. “To be fair, Grace, she insults everyone. I mean, remember yesterday when she made you go home and change because you couldn’t pull off that shade of green? She wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t have to be so rude.”

Grace’s jaw fell open into an offended ‘o’. “Hey!” She yells, hitting his arm before pausing, thinking about yesterday’s incident. “Wait a second… She made me change right before Sumners showed up. She’s embarrassed of me! She doesn’t think I’m good enough for her upper-class family!” Grace raises from the couch quickly, grabbing her jacket from the coatrack and rushes to put it on.

Will furrows his brows. “Grace, don’t jump to conclusions so quickly!” He grabs her arm before she could reach the doorknob.

“Well do you have a better explanation Sherlock Homo?” She quips.

Will sighs. “Karen couldn’t give less of a shit about her family, especially since her and Stan and divorced and he’s not even her family anymore. There’s got to be a better reason than that for her to not want you to go out with this guy.”

Grace pulls her arm from his grasp. “Well whatever the reason is, I’m going to find out.” She opens the door, marching out of it in a huff before slamming it behind her.

Grace knocks heavily on the door of the Park Avenu manse. Whatever it was that Karen had against her love life, she was going to find out tonight. It has been far too long that she insulted her boyfriends, scratched out dates from her calendar so Grace would forget about them, and made her feel that every man wasn’t good enough for her. Who does that woman think she is making Grace feel like she’s some sort of untouchable entity that no man deserves? On second thought, maybe that wasn’t the worse thing in the world…

The door opens to the familiar face of Rosario. “Oh, Grace. Miss Karen isn’t here.”

“Rosario if I don’t have a drink in my hand in the next second I’ll send you back to Del Taco faster than you can down a Twinkie!” A voice screams from behind the maid, who flinches at the shrill woman.

Grace pushes her way through the door. “I’m sorry, Rosario but I have a bone to pick with your boss.”

“I really don’t think you should be here, Grace. Miss Karen has told me to keep you away at all costs.” Rosario follows the redhead as she walks towards the voice of Karen.

Grace looks back at the shorter woman. “Oh, so now she’s avoiding me? Oh _no_ , I deserve an explanation!” She continues to rush up the stairs towards the room that Karen used to share with her ex husband. When arrives at the door, she pushes it open, revealing the brunette socialite laying in a silk robe on the massive bed.

“What’s this what’s happening why are you here?” Karen asks hurriedly, sitting up. “I told Rosario to keep the middle class away from here. I have an Opera to go to!” She stands to meet Grace.

“Your Opera can wait, you have some explaining to do.” Grace says, placing a pointed finger on the other woman’s exposed collarbone. “Why did you lie to me again? Why did you tell me that Sumners was a con artist?” The now fiery redhead demands.

Karen gently pushes the other woman away. “Back up, Honey, I can smell your breath.” She waves a hand in front of her nose and sticks her tongue out.

“Karen!” Grace shouts in frustration, placing her hands on her hips.

“Fine, fine. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I’ll tell you the truth.” Karen declares. “He’s a woman.”

Grace purses her lips, giving Karen a disapproving look.

“He’s a robot.” Karen states next.

“Stop lying!” Grace exclaims. “Just tell me the truth, tell me that you think that I’m not good enough for him!”

Karen tilts her head, taken aback. “Not good enough for him?”

Grace nods. “Yeah, I know you’re embarrassed of me, Karen. I’m tired of you poking your head into my love life, why can’t you just leave me alone?” She blurts out, waving her hands in exaggeration.

Karen pauses for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips curved into a frown before she rolls her eyes and smirks slightly. “Good Lord, Honey. You jump to conclusions faster than you make bad fashion choices. I lied to you about Sumners because _he’s_ not good enough for _you_.”

Grace’s jaw falls open. “What?” She smiles despite herself. “What do you mean? He’s handsome, funny, and- and rich! And what am I? Gross Adler from Schenectady?”

“Oh stop it, Grace. I mean, sure your hair is a mess and you look like you dress in the dark, but you are so much more than that. You’re funny, quirky, stupidly talented, and- and gorgeous! He’s just… Average. Just like every other loser you date.” The brunette averts her eyes from the hazel gaze of Grace. “They’re all not good enough for you. I mean, you’re special.” She runs her hand through her hair, a pink tinge coming to her pale skin. “You need someone who will treat you like you’re all of those things. Someone who loves you like- like I do.” She sits on her bed, sighing.

Grace stares at the shorter woman, eyes widened and heart pounding from her words, not knowing what to say.

Karen looks up to meet the other woman’s eyes. “Gosh Honey, stop staring.” She states, her voice almost breaking.

“Like you love me?” Grace manages, moving closer to Karen. “Were you always so critical of my boyfriends because you were- jealous?” She touches the brunette’s hand gently, surprised when she doesn’t pull away.

Karen looks away again, the blush in her cheeks darkening. “I don’t know, Grace. It’s just hard watching you be with people who- who…”

Grace sits onto the large bed next to the other woman. “Who weren’t you?”

Karen furrows her brows. “Listen, stop interrogating me!” The socialite swiftly lifts from the bed, moving away from Grace. “You got your answer, Grace. Get out of my manse.” She sighs, looking down, fidgeting with the large ring on her middle finger.

Grace follows the other woman, raising from the bed. “Karen I-“

The brunette looks up, her dark eyes intense. “I said get out, Grace.” She responds sternly.

Grace purses her lips, watching as the other woman turns a heel to walk to the master bathroom attached to the bedroom, never once looking back. The redhead slowly treads out of the room, down the stairs and to the door, attempting to comprehend what had just taken place.


	2. Chapter 2

Grace opens the door to apartment 9C with furrowed brows, the events of Karen’s manse never leaving her mind. She sees Will sitting on the small couch in the corner of the room, his eyes focused on the Women’s Entertainment channel. She begins to make her way towards her room, trying to avoid conversation with her best friend, but as she hears a familiar voice call her name she knows that it was never an option.

“Grace! What happened?” He lifts from the couch, walking towards the redhead.

Grace looks up at him, her hazel eyes glazed over. “I- don’t really know.” She states, her lips curled into a frown.

“What do you mean?” He asks, his chipper face falling to a look of concern. “Does she really not think you’re good enough for Sumners?” The man lifts his hand to gently touch Grace’s arm comfortingly.

Grace bows her head. “No, not at all.” She responds. “I- I think Karen might be in love with me.” The redhead turns to walk towards her room, hoping for a well-deserved night’s rest, but once again realizes that would be impossible as she feels Will’s hand grab her shoulder.

“Grace! He exclaims, his voice raising an octave. “I’m going to need more of an explanation than that.” He chuckles with disbelief.

Grace sighs, nodding towards the couch in their living room. “Fine, but you’re gonna have to be seated for this one.” The two sit, and Grace begrudgingly recites her visit with at her assistant’s Park Avenue manse. Recounting the events make the interior designer’s heart race, hearing Karen’s words echo in her head as she repeats them to her best friend. “Someone who loves you like I do.”

Will’s eyes grew wide as Grace’s unbelievable story unfolds, not speaking a word until she finishes, though when she does, all he can manage was: “Wow.”

Grace sits back into the couch, placing her hands over her face. “What am I going to do?” She mumbles.

Will rubs her back gently. “Well when she comes into work tomorrow, just act normal. I mean, by the sound of it, she isn’t keen on talking about whatever feelings she has… I’m still not one hundred percent convinced she _can_ feel yet.” He chuckles, though he doesn’t receive similar energy from his friend who groans. The lawyer sits up to grab Grace’s hands and remove them from her face, forcing the woman to look him in his dark eyes. “Everything will be fine, Grace. I mean, the woman can barely remember what she drank for breakfast, she’ll probably be over it by tomorrow.”

Grace runs her hand through her red curls. “I guess you’re right.” She says, unconvinced, raising from the couch. “Everything will be fine.” She sighs.

Will follows her. “That’s the spirit!” He holds her shoulders and kisses her forehead. “Now get some sleep, you look horrible.” He says, lips pursed.

Grace pushes his shoulder lazily, beginning to truly feel her fatigue. As she slowly walks to her bedroom, it feels like she was lifting concrete with every step. She undresses and pulls a night shirt over her head, opting to skip putting pants on as her desire to sleep grows too strong to fight. Climbing into bed and pulling her comforter over her body felt heavenly, and as she placed her head on her pillow, she found herself falling asleep instantly.

Even after a night’s rest of 10 hours, Grace awoke feeling exhausted the next morning. She was prepared to apologize to Karen for arriving at work at noon but was surprised to find that the office was empty. It wasn’t unlike the other woman to be tardy, but even noon was late for Karen Walker. Grace prayed that her absence had nothing to do with what happened the night previous, she hoped desperately that her assistant had forgotten all about their encounter in her drunken state. But as the hours went on, and her phone calls fell on deaf ears, the redhead accepted that Karen remembered last night, and even worse, didn’t forgive Grace for stepping over the line. She sighed, looking down at her watch, her leg bouncing up and down with anxiety. The designer hadn’t gotten anything done that day, even calling off a meeting with a client to stay at the office in anticipation of her assistant’s arrival. But it seemed like her efforts were in vain as she watched the sun set on New York from her office window.

Picking up the phone, she dialed the familiar number of Will’s firm. “Hello?”

Will’s friendly voice appeared on the other line, a stark contrast from the cold mail box of Karen that she heard several times that day. “Hey, Gracie. What’s wrong? You sound flustered.”

Grace let’s out a deep breath, only then realizing that her breathing was in fact quickened. “I- uhm. Karen, she didn’t show.”

“And the sky is blue, what about it?”

“I’ve been calling her all day, Will! What if she never comes back? What if I’ve lost Karen like when I found her domanatrix film?!” Grace cries back.

“Grace, calm down. You got her back then and you’ll get her back now.” Will responds calmly.

“But this time this can’t be fixed by fishing around for porn in video stores.” Grace says, her voice falling to a regular speaking voice. “What am I going to do?”

Will sighs. “Grace, it’s not like you feel the same way. There’s not a lot you can do.” Will pauses, waiting for his friend to speak, but receives nothing but silence. “Right?” He says, his voice raising an octave.

“I-I’ve got to go, Will.”

“What?” Where? Grace, what do you mean? You didn’t answer my-“His voice is cut off as Grace places the phone back onto the receiver. The redhead sighs, looking back out at the night sky before lifting from her seat and heading towards the elevator. She was determined to get Karen back, just as she did when she embarrassed her with her adult movie. Grace knew she couldn’t live with her assistant mad at her, she couldn’t live with her never speaking to her again, she couldn’t live... Without her. Whatever that meant she didn’t need to figure out now, the only thing she cared about was getting to that Park Avenue manse. The entire taxi ride, the events of last night replayed in her head, her friend’s sweet words echoing over and over. Knocking on the manse's door, a wave of déjà-vu came over her as Rosario’s face appears, but quickly begins to fade as the maid begins closing the door as she see’s the redhead.

“Wait! Wait, Rosario!” Grace places her hand between the door and the frame. “Please, let me in.”

“Don’t make slam the door on your hand, Grace.” Rosario states in her deadpan tone.

“I really need to speak to Karen.” Grace attempts to reason. “I promise it won’t be like last time.”

Rosario sighs, looking towards the stairs that lead up to her boss’s room. “Fine, she’s in her room.” The shorter woman says, opening the door to allow Grace in. “But if you upset Miss Karen like you did last night, say goodbye to that pretty little head of yours.” The maid threatens, walking into the kitchen to allow Grace to find her own way.

After getting through the shock of the threat of being beheaded, the redhead walks up the familiar stairs towards Karen’s bedroom, her heart beginning to race as she fears that this will end the same as yesterday. As she arrives at the door that was open a crack, she swallows hard. She raises her hand to knock gently on the door, immediately hearing the recognizable voice of her assistant.

“Rosario, I told you to leave me the hell alone! I told you that I’m fine!” She screams.

Grace winces at the shriek voice before slowing opening the door to reveal herself, watching as Karen’s expression shifts from anger to shock.

“What are you doing here?” She says, forcing herself to put on a frown. “You think you’d be able to take a hint.” She says, rolling her eyes as she sips the martini in her hand.

“I was just- wondering why you didn’t come to work today?” Grace says, slowly making her way towards the other woman.

Karen chuckles. “I’m not coming back to work.”

Grace furrows her brows. “Ever?”

The brunette places her drink on her side table. “Yes, ever. God, you’re thick.”

Grace sighs, knowing that her fears of losing Karen have come to fruition. "What can I do to make you come back?"

The socialite frowns. "There's nothing you or I can do to take- what happened back." She begins, looking down. "Now all you're ever going to see of me is that. And I can't live with that humiliation... There. Is that what you wanted, Grace? To humiliate me even more?"

Grace looks down, taking a deep breath in before lifting her head to meet Karen’s dark gaze. “Karen, I love you." The redhead sighs. “I love you like you love me.” 

The socialite raises from her bed to stand in front of the other woman, placing her hand on her hip. “If you think that you can come to my manse and just confess your lesbian love for me and everything will be peachy, you have another thing com- “

Grace couldn’t listen to the other woman any longer, using the age-old tactic of a kiss to shut the other woman up. And as she feels Karen detense and place her hand on her hip, she knows that it had worked. The redhead couldn’t help but smile into the kiss before breaking the two apart, her hand still resting on the brunette’s blushing cheek.

Karen’s eyes were wide as she stared at Grace, but she quickly recovered as she furrowed her brows once again, looking at the redhead’s smiling face. “Oh, so now you’re trying to seduce me? Grace Adler, how low will you go?”

Grace chuckles at her assistant’s response, pulling her into another smiling kiss that Karen hums into. “But is it working?”

Karen rolls her eyes. “Maybe a little.” She smiles, flustered.

Grace pulls the smaller woman into a tight hug, surprised as she feels Karen hugging back immediately. “I’m so glad you kept me away from Sumners.”

Karen pulls away from the hug to look at the other woman.

“Because now I can be with someone who loves me like you do.” Grace says, tucking a strand of hair from the brunette’s face.

Karen tilts her head. “Really? Who?”

Grace rolls her eyes as she laughs, kissing the other woman passionately.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic took me way too long to write but I want to thank my friends on Twitter for encouraging me to keep writing. I feel like this piece is better than my previous work as I've learned to better edit.... I think. Thanks for reading!


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